Oakland A's third baseman Eric Chavez knows the importance of a good chiropractic adjustment not only for the spine, but also for pretty much any joint in the body. Chavez suffers from forearm problems for which he receives chiropractic care. According to a recent story published in the San Francisco Chronicle, "The one positive is that Chavez knows how to fix the forearm soreness now. It only takes a trip to the chiropractor". Unfortunately, Chavez does have one problem with his chiropractor, stating "This week was tough, because the chiropractor was closed on the weekend and I couldn't get adjusted."

What if a single, painless chiropractic adjustment could significantly reduce your high blood pressureÖ sound too good to be true? According to the results of a new placebo-controlled study, this is absolutely true. Lead researcher George Bakris, MD initiated the pilot study after a fellow doctor found that after referring certain patients to a local chiropractor, those with high blood pressure were experiencing a normalization in their blood pressure after receiving chiropractic care. The local chiropractor, Marshall Dickholtz Sr., DC, treated the subjects with a chiropractic adjustment to the atlas vertebrae - the topmost vertebrae located at the base of the skull. Compared with subjects who received a 'sham' adjustment, those receiving the true adjustment on average experienced a 14 mm Hg greater reduction in their systolic blood pressure and 8 mm Hg reduction in their diastolic blood pressure. According to Dr. Bakris, "This procedure has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combinationÖ And it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems". Note that these comments come from the lead study researcher who is a medical doctor, not a chiropractic doctor.

Government researchers have just announced that Americans are far from consuming adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables which in turn increases their odds of acquiring heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease as well as numerous other serious health conditions. These findings come from a health and eating habits survey conducted in 2005 of more than 300,000 Americans, called the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. According to the survey, less than one third of adults consumed at least five daily servings of fruits and vegetables - the government's suggested daily consumption of fruits and vegetables in 2005. New government guidelines have now increased the suggested daily consumption to three to five servings of fruit and four to eight servings of vegetables daily.

It's staggering that more than 60 percent of the population is overweight or obese in the United States and many European countries. This makes it essential for scientists and researchers to determine how best to manage this health problem, especially in children. An interesting new study out of the U.K. indicates that children who participate in just 15 minutes of moderate exercise daily are 50 percent less likely to be obese as compared with inactive children. Researchers also commented that higher intensity type physical activity could be more important than the total amount of physical activity. Researchers were surprised at how such a small amount of activity per day could have such significant results.